The 2024 Bit Day, one of the premier computer science events at SHSID, took place successfully as planned.

The 2024 Bit Day at SHSID explored the intersection of linguistics and computer science, highlighting the role of Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT in enabling computers to understand and generate human language. As technology evolves, language remains a vital link between people, conveying emotions often viewed as uniquely human. The field of linguistics requires precision, governed by established rules that facilitate effective communication.

So, are human language and computer language fundamentally similar? In many ways, they are. Both have their own sets of rules: human language connects people to each other, while computer language connects people to machines.

Artificial intelligence is making significant strides, with models now capable of understanding and generating human languages. This year’s Bit Day aimed to encourage students to break down barriers between linguistics and computer science, merging art and science while applying theoretical knowledge in real-world contexts.

Online Trivia Challenge

This year's Bit Day launched with an exciting online trivia event hosted by STEMDoge. From October 22nd to 25th, participants engaged with computer-related questions through the STEMDoge mini program, with contributions from Global Variable. The competition was intense, with the top three scorers each achieving a score of 30 or above out of 35 questions. Congratulations to the top five scorers for their impressive performance!

Inspiring Lectures from Seniors

On October 23rd and 25th, Bit Day, in collaboration with the Peer Advisor department, hosted a series of lectures. Amid the busy application season, senior students actively shared their experiences with artificial intelligence technology. During lunch on October 23rd, Jasper presented his own research on the WeChat version of ChatGPT, highlighting its portability, speed, simplicity and user-friendliness. His insights also sparked logical thinking among students who may struggle with programming.

On October 25th, Henry shared his journey in the International Olympiad of Informatics (IOI), emphasizing the importance of maintaining curiosity and a thirst for knowledge. His dedication to continuous learning inspired many students to explore computer science further. These sessions not only broadened students' horizons but also stimulated their interest in acquiring computer knowledge.

Off-line Activity

During noontime of October 24th, we finally got to the offline activities of Bit Day! The Game Development Club, Global Variable, OI Club, Girl Programming Club, AI Research Club, Linguistics Club, STEMDoge, and the Computer Programming Club had each designed unique activities based off the notion of language, allowing students to understand human language, and its connection to artificial intelligence in interactive exhibitions. The Artificial Intelligence Club prepared the classic Turing test to help students better understand the importance of this test to machine learning and the historical development of the entire field of artificial intelligence. The Game Development Club prepared an interesting game to introduce C sharp (C#), a modern programming language with great potential. The Girls Programming Club presented topics related to the solar system, and in the interactive session, everyone got started with a new computer language within five minutes. The preparations of the STEMDoge club were decent, including GPT riddles, where students tried to understand the logic behind artificial intelligence while solving problems, and interactive games with binary art, where students explore the infinite artistic potential in the binary world to experience the beauty of programming logic. The AI fortune-telling model was also one of the major highlights, and who could wonder what’s going to happen if proposing some seemingly idealistic questions to a rigorous artificial intelligence model. While visiting the exhibition and participating in the games, students had gained a new understanding of computer science, which broaden their knowledge with inspiration.

2024 Bit Day not only provided a platform for students who excel in computer science to communicate and showcase their knowledge but also allowed students who are not as familiar to the topic to explore the mysteries of computer language. As an interdisciplinary event of linguistics and artificial intelligence, Bit Day now breaks the stereotype that computer language is obscure and difficult to understand, spreads programming-related knowledge in an interesting but profound way and shows the infinite potential of language art in the binary computer world.

(Written by 10(12) Sophie   Supervised by  Li Da, He Tianzhou     Pictures by Computer Science Group   Proofread by Cody Allen Turner    Reviewed by Gu Ying, Shen Chenli)